Fox's Pete Hegseth: “Democrats are more obsessed with climate change” than talking “about the problem of radical Islam”

Hegseth's commentary, which blamed Democratic climate concerns for “radical Islam ... infiltrating institutions,” was made during one of Fox's “straight news” programs 

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

from the March 20 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:

SANDRA SMITH (CO-ANCHOR): This is going to be a major headache for security forces worldwide. You talk about the fact that he's obtained an Irish passport, and a spokesperson for Ireland's Department of Justice has gone on the record saying Irish citizens are not subject to immigration control. So if he has Irish citizenship and presents his Irish passport when he arrives, he will not be refused entry. So he plans to live there, but he -- who knows where else he's going to go? How are they going to be able to keep track of him?

PETE HEGSETH (FOX & FRIENDS WEEKEND CO-HOST): What have we seen -- they won't. What have we seen from former inmates at Gitmo who guys -- my guys and others guarded? They go back to the battlefield. They go back to the Taliban. They're leaders in ISIS, they're leaders in al-Qaeda. These are hardcore folks. This is -- In Iraq we used to talk about the catch-and-release program. We had to be NCIS on the battlefield collecting fingerprints in order to keep bad guys locked up sometimes. So we released people we knew were going back to the insurgency because we had to, because we had dumb rules of engagement. This is catch-and-release program on a national scale. He's detainee number one in the war against radical Islam and we're letting him go. Our allies are asleep at the wheel. Europe is asleep at the wheel. We're right to not try to nation-build in the Middle East but we better keep our focus on this. And the problem is Democrats are more obsessed with climate change. I mean, really. They're obsessed with climate change as a religion. They refuse to talk about the problem of radical Islam. And as a result it's infiltrating institutions, Europe, and now we're letting them go. We're letting them go. It's lunacy. 

Previously:

Fox's Jeanine Pirro says Rep. Omar's hijab may mean that she's against the Constitution

Fox regular Michelle Malkin: Western societies allowing in Muslims is “suicide”

Fox & Friends warns of Muslim “enclaves in the West” and the need to replace Americans with “our own babies”